The Business of the City: Miscellaneous

Friday, August 21, 2015

As you know, I occasionally write posts on my students and my college. Well, here's another one! I am proud to note that the short film An Immigrant's Story,which features former Essex County College student Sofia Medina (Class of 2014), has been nominated for an Emmy Award. Sofia, a Jack Kent Cooke Scholar, who is now at Johns Hopkins University as a pre-med student, credits her faculty research mentor, ECC biology professor Dr. Jeff Lee, a Plainfield resident, as one of the major contributors to her academic success. As undocumented
immigrants from Ecuador, Sofia and her family struggled for upwards of
14 years to gain permanent residency in the United States (which they now have). It is
worth noting that the ENTIRE
Medina family has attended Essex County College--two of Sofia's
brothers, Pedro and Sebastian, were my students. You can watch the film below. Also, click on the link below the video for an article on the Medina family's journey from Ecuador to the U.S.

Thursday, August 13, 2015

This Saturday, Mayor Mapp and First Lady Amelia Mapp will be hosting their Eighth Annual Community Barbecue at their home on West Eighth Street. Every year, Plainfielders are asked to bring donations of non-perishable food to the event, to be given to those in need. This year, in addition to food, the Mapps are asking that toiletries and other necessary items also be donated. According to an article I read earlier this year, feminine products such as pads and sanitary napkins are very much in demand, as they are expensive and usually not listed as "toiletries," per se. I would urge folks to also contribute these items for distribution at our local shelters. I have cut and pasted the article by Madeleine Davies below--or, you may just click on the link. Please be a generous donor! I will see you on Saturday!All best,Rebecca

Of
the all the extreme challenges faced by homeless people, the lack of
access to menstruation products is one that, for many homeless women, is
among the worst and most humiliating.

In many
cases, homeless shelters will have both limited resources in regards to
pads and tampons, as well as strict bathroom restrictions that make it
increasingly hard, if not impossible, for women to keep clean while
having their periods. Not only that, but, as The Huffington Post's Eleanor Goldberg puts it,
"the fact that menstruation is a taboo topic to begin with means that
people who are able help often aren't even aware that such a vast need
exists."

It was that realization that motivated Joanie Balderstone and Rebecca McIntire to start Distributing Dignity, an organization devoted to "distributing pads, bras and tampons to women in need."

Feminine
hygiene products are often overlooked during natural disaster drives (as
a friend who volunteered during the Hurricane Sandy aftermath once told
me, "All these poor women want is some goddamn tampons") and even in
donations to women's shelters.

Jeey
Moncayo is a caseworker for Camden County Women's Center, where more
than a thousand women in 2013 found safety from abusive relationships.
She said most women escape their abusers in a hurry, arriving with just
the clothes they're wearing. For others, their abusers, in fits of rage,
have burned or thrown bleach on their clothes.

Mothers spend any money they have on their kids first. "The women's needs come last," she said.

In
June, the center received 150 bras from Distributing Dignity. The women
especially liked the option of feminine pads marked narrow, slim, and
tween. "It sounds silly," said Moncayo, "but the choice is empowering."

Something to consider next time you donate. Another thing to consider: the government subsidizing tampons and pads.